There is an urgent need for leadership in the EU, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Charlie McCreevy told the Institute of European Affairs yesterday in Dublin.
In a robust speech entitled "The Future of Europe - Are We Asking the Right Questions?" the former finance minister pointed out that last June EU heads of state and government called for "a pause for reflection".
Mr McCreevy commented: "There has been a pause, but disappointingly little reflection.
"It now seems that most people have accepted that the [European] constitution, despite its strong merits, is not going to enter into force any time soon. President Barroso has made it clear that this is certainly our thinking within the European Commission."
On the subject of globalisation, Mr McCreevy said it presented both challenges and opportunities for the EU.
"Europe can either surf the wave or go under. Erecting protectionist barriers - as some would have us do - is no answer. Even King Canute eventually had to face facts," he said.
The commission had proposed a services directive aimed at maximising the contribution of the services sector to the quest for jobs and growth.
But the debate on this directive had revealed "a tendency on the part of some to hanker after protectionist barriers not only on the Union's external borders, but internally as well," Mr McCreevy complained.
"Such an attitude strikes at the very heart of the freedoms enshrined in the treaties, and I will never accept it."
He pointed out that some of the countries deemed to be the most competitive offered a high level of social protection: "Finland, which I visited last week, topped the recent World Economic Forum competitiveness league, with Sweden in third and Denmark fourth," he said.
But there were some social models - termed "continental" and "Mediterranean" - which tended to preserve the status quo.
"By relying on strict employment protection laws at a time of rapid change when old job practices are no longer warranted, they discourage adaptation to change.
"The system therefore reduces overall employment and raises unemployment," Mr McCreevy said.